In Praise of Moms
In celebration of Mother's Day, several of our Senior Times writers have put their pen to paper (or fingers to keys) in praise of their mothers.
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Mom could be difficult, but I loved her dearly. She did not always cope well after Dad died when I was five. My sister was two months old. The dealership took back our car, but Mom was determined to keep that house. She opened the Home Style Beauty Shop in one bedroom. She'd style a neighbor's hair, hand me the money, and I'd bike to the store for food. She told me if I wanted my own stuff or money I'd have to find a way to get it. I did, from age eight on. I collected deposit soda bottles, sold Kool-Aid, raked leaves, washed windows and mowed lawns.
Mom told me, "All things come to those who wait." I interpreted that to mean I could have whatever I wanted if I believed it would happen and was patient. It works.
Mom always made my sister and me feel unconditionally loved, even when her frustrations of being a single mother caused her to yell at us. We knew she was doing her best and that we were the most important parts of her life.
We never lacked for food or clothing. And thanks to Mom, I have no debts. Each month she would sit at the kitchen table with stacks of bills and decide which ones Dad’s veteran’s pension check could pay. Some bills were urgent, some could be partially paid, and others would get a letter asking for more time. Many months she would cry over her burden of debt. Watching her made me resolve to pay as I go. I don't even have a credit card.
Mom had a peculiar fear. Her mother had died at age 70, and Mom was sure she would die then, too. Some months before her 70th birthday, Mom's doctor gave her a clean bill of health. But on her 70th birthday, she went to the hospital and died two days later. The cancer that had been in remission for years had suddenly spread throughout her body.
This was one final lesson from Mom: what you think is what you get.
Wendy Norman
I was turning 9 years old. Only a year away from double-digits, I teased my mom, watching the playful grimace cross her face. She hated how fast I was growing up. Money was tight that year, so I knew not to expect many presents. But when I got to the table... surprise! There they were. I hoped, hoped, hoped that she had gotten me clothes for my American Girl doll, Samantha. I opened the box and saw peacock-blue cloth peeking through the tissue paper. Yes! I pulled the fabric out and paused in confusion -- I didn't recognize this dress. Seeing my hesitation, she explained. She couldn't afford catalog clothes this year. Instead, she sewed a tiny dress in exactly Samantha's size -- a present better than any catalog-bought costume. She knew what I wanted, and chose to give her time and talent as a gift from her heart.
My mom has always done everything in her power to make me happy, from making dresses for my dolls, to driving me to volleyball practice, to hugging me as I cried over boys. Now she listens to me talk about my day as I drive home from work, and helps me through anything life throws at me. She is my best friend, a shoulder when I need it, and my biggest fan. I love her more than she knows.
Allysen Kerr
Determined. That's the word that describes the women in my family. It's this word that has been passed down from generation to generation. It's the characteristic that's been engrafted into our DNA. But the two women who embody this trait the most are the closest to my heart: my grandmother and mother. This Mother's Day, I want to thank my grandmother, Evelyn Purrier, and my mother, Paula Kerr, for always being women of determination.
They are completely selfless. They are the type of women who will go without, so that others never have to. They are determined to live a full life and as such have never stop learning. They are more than just mothers, wives and friends. They are examples to the rest of women who have ever been single mothers or attended college while working full-time and being a wife and mother. They are my examples.
Sarah Henderson
While I was growing up, my mother used to always tell me, "Sarah, stick with your group!" When I took a field trip to the zoo, when I went shopping with my grandmother and cousins, and even when I played kickball with the neighborhood kids in the street outside my house, her instructions were always the same: "Sarah, stay alert! Make sure you stick with your group!"
Even though I am older now, I find I still have a lot to learn from my mom, and I still strive to apply her old saying to my new life challenges as a young adult. To make her proud, I've stuck with my group -- in other words, I've stuck with the people in my life who make me happy, not with those who bring me down. The "bad guys" never did get me in my younger days, and in the present day, the bad times and bad people I encounter do not get the best of me either.
I owe all of that to my mother, the strong woman who has guided me down the right path since those days at the zoo when I clustered close to my fellow kindergartners. Thanks, Mom. I guess I'll stick with you, too. §
